Ellen E. Deason

Joanne Wharton Murphy/Classes of 1965 and 1973 Professor in Law

Ellen E. Deason is the Joanne Wharton Murphy/Classes of 1965 and 1973 Professor in Law at The Ohio State University. She serves as the faculty director of the Moritz LL.M. program, which enrolled its first students in August 2007.

Her scholarly writing is primarily on topics in dispute resolution and at the intersection of law and science. In addition, she has co-authored casebooks for Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolution. In 2005, Deason was appointed reporter for the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws drafting committee for a Uniform Act on Protection of Genetic Information in Employment and Insurance.

Before joining the faculty at Moritz in 2003, Deason taught at the University of Illinois College of Law. She practiced law as an associate with Morrison & Foerster in Washington, D.C.

Deason served as a law clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court. She also was a legal assistant to Arbitrator Howard M. Holtzmann, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. She was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review. Prior to attending law school, Deason worked as a marine biologist and she is widely published in scientific journals.

Professor Deason currently teaches Mediation, Dispute Resolution Processes: Theory and Practice, Comparative Dispute Resolution, International Commercial Arbitration, The U.S. Legal System and Legal Traditions, and Law & Genetics.

Awards/Achievements

• Editor-in-chief, Michigan Law Review
• Order of the Coif

Selected Publications

• Click here for copies of Prof. Deason's Articles.
• J. Cross, L. Abramson, & E. Deason, Civil Procedure: Cases, Problems & Exercises (Thompson/West, 2d ed. 2008).
• E. Brunet, C. Craver, & E. Deason, Alternate Dispute Resolution: The Advocate's Perspective (3d ed. 2006).
• A. Cohen & E. Deason, "Comparative Considerations: Toward the global transfer of ideas about dispute system design," 12 Dispute Resolution Magazine 23-26 (Spring 2006).
• "The Need for Trust as a Justification for Confidentiality in Mediation: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach," 54 Kansas Law Review, 1387-1418 (2006).
• "Perspectives on Decisionmaking from the Blackmun Papers: The Cases on Arbitrability of Statutory Claims," 70 Missouri Law Review 1133-1181 (2005).
• "Procedural Rules for Complementary Systems of Litigation and Mediation – Worldwide," 80 Notre Dame Law Review 553-92 (2005).
• "Uniform Mediation Act: Law Ensures Confidentiality, Neutrality of Process," Dispute Resolution Magazine, Summer (2002).
• "Predictable Mediation Confidentiality in the U.S. Federal System," 17 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 239-319 (2002).
• "The Quest for Uniformity in Mediation Confidentiality: Foolish Consistency or Crucial Predictability?," 85 Marquette Law Review 79-111 (2001).
• "Enforcing Mediated Settlement Agreements: Contract Law Collides With Confidentiality," 35 University of California Davis Law Review 33-102 (2001).
• "Court-Appointed Expert Witnesses: Scientific Positivism Meets Bias and Deference," 77 Oregon Law Review 59-156 (1998).